1) Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to the manufacture and assembly of structures using composite and metallic materials, and more particularly, to drill template tools for drilling holes at precise locations in parts, such as composite or metallic aircraft parts.
2) Description of Related Art
In conventional practice, before a pattern of holes is drilled in a part to be assembled into a structure, a template, or jig, is made and placed on the surface of the part to be drilled. For example, in the aerospace industry, the structure or assembly may be a composite aircraft skin over an aluminum substructure. The template or jig contains holes conforming to the desired hole pattern that is to be made on the surface of the part to be drilled. A drill is then inserted, typically manually by a drill operator, in each hole of the jig and is used to drill a hole into or through the part. Known drill template tools exist. However, such known drill template tools do not include an integral seal to contain fluids and debris, such as composite dust and/or metallic drill chips, generated by the drilling and manufacturing process. Such fluids and debris can flow on and around the drill template tool and the component or structure being drilled, can form puddles on the floor of the working area and environment, and can cause the working area and environment to become messy and a problem area. Thus, such fluids and debris must be cleaned up after the drilling and manufacturing process, and such clean-up can result in increased labor costs to remove the fluids and debris from the affected areas and can result in increased time to complete the manufacturing process.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved drill template tool with an integral seal that provides advantages over known devices.